A TRUCK driver, who was under the influence of alcohol, crashed into a house, killing a 14-year-old girl and severely injuring six others on Sunday in the capital’s Choam Chao II commune in Por Sen Chey district.
Traffic police arrested the driver and prepared documents to send him to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday, said Sem Kunthea, the Phnom Penh Traffic Office chief.
“The suspect was the driver of a container truck. The driver ran into a house and hit a girl, who was killed. Family members who lived there were also injured,” he said.
Kunthea declined to give information about the driver. However, a police officer, who asked not to be identified, named the suspect as Phol Sopheap, 33, who lives in Kampong Speu province’s Odong district. The dead girl was identified as Hok Kimchay,14, a grade-7 student at Chumpovorn High School.
Yim Saran, the Por Sen Chey district police chief, said in an accident such as this, if it only involved damaged property, police could solve it at the district level. But because a death occurred, they handed it off to municipal police.
Choam Chao II commune police officers said before the accident, the truck had been driving south on National Road 3 at a high speed. At the scene, the truck driver tried to steer away from hitting a motorbike, causing him to lose control and crash through the home’s garage and into a construction shed out back.
